The Bookstagram Effect: Is Aesthetics taking over Authenticity of Literature?

🖊️Sohini Ganguly

Turns out book fairs are not the only place where books are being decorated, highlighted, styled and photographed in this world. In a world dominated by social media, even a traditional reading form like books are victims of maintaining a social image. Undeniably, a digital media promotion debut has saved literature from the fear of brink of endangerment but are the side effects of social media truly ignorable?

 

Ever since lockdown during COVID-19 forced people into their homes, Bookstagram, a part of Instagram that promotes, discusses, showcases, and reviews books, has grown to become a book marketing giant that surpasses any other form of promotional campaign that publishing houses may employ. Walking the streets of IKBF 2025, I have found almost double the number of mobile phones directed at books as that of eyes. A quick look at Instagram reels under the hashtags of IKBF has led me to one conclusion, literature has now gained at least two levels of distinction, one consists of the books that have failed to attain a status of high popularity on Bookstagram and another that consists of books that caters to the Gen Z and Alpha’s criterias of an ideal read.

 

To find the definition of “ideal” in this context, I found myself at the book stalls like HarperCollins Publishers India Pvt. Ltd., The Family Book Shop, Apeejay Oxford Bookstores Pvt. Ltd. which are all prospering under the crowd of excited young readers hoarding and fangirling over their enormous and vibrant collection of books.

 

“I knew I absolutely needed these beauties on my shelf as soon as I saw them on Insta!” said one of the teenagers I encountered at one of the stalls talking about Holly Jackson’s romance fantasy based trilogy The Folk of the Air. When asked if their group had ever read authors like Dostoevsky, Austen, Dickens, I found answers leaning towards negative. “I tried Austen but the romance isn’t romancing in her books,” one of them said, leading me to realise that this generation’s idea of literature has quite a few similarities with the concept of fast fashion.

“Classic literature is an acquired taste.” said another reader I found flipping through pages of a copy of Albert Camus’ The Stranger. “It (bookstagram) ruins even the good ones. They overrate the unworthy ones too easily simply because the book looks good… or has a good dialogue or two. The reels are very misleading as well.” they said verifying their bitter take on bookstagram.

 

Classic literature or the literature that we have come to know as authentic, the literature that we recognise to be headed by notable authors like Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Kafka has taken a back seat because of the thought heavy nature of their content while lighter reads have taken over the interests of youngsters with their aesthetics & easy to digest plots.

 

But does that mean classic literature is losing its place in the world? In a debate organised by Daakbangla.com on 1st February at the IKBF 2025, RJ Somak had a valuable insight to share on this topic. He expressed his belief that at least books are still relevant because of the younger generation. “There are youngsters who promote the habit of reading and publishing houses are working with them directly,” he said referring to bookstagram influencers.

 

So, perhaps, be it through aesthetics or intensity of content, judging readers’ evolving taste in books and a book’s authenticity is unfair, as the world is ever changing, and it is only natural that so will the books that are starting to etch themselves into history.